A split forms in MAGA world as Trump weighs next steps on Iran, with
some top stars rebuking him
[June 18, 2025]
By MEG KINNARD and THOMAS BEAUMONT
A schism has opened among President Donald Trump's most devout MAGA
supporters and national security conservatives over the Israel-Iran
conflict, as some longtime defenders of the president's America First
mantra call him out for weighing a greater U.S. role in the region.
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, commentator Tucker Carlson and
conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk — with legions of their own devoted
followers — are reminding audiences of Trump's 2024 promises to resist
overseas military involvement after a week of deadly strikes and
counterstrikes between Israel and Iran, and discussion of U.S.
involvement.
On social media and their popular airwaves, questions about Trump’s
stance from these central validating voices are exposing a crack in his
forward guard. They are also warning that the schism could deter
progress on other priorities.
“No issue currently divides the right as much as foreign policy,” Kirk
wrote on X, adding he was “very concerned” that a massive split among
MAGA could “disrupt our momentum and our insanely successful
Presidency.”
The State Department and U.S. military last week directed a voluntary
evacuation of nonessential personnel and their loved ones from some U.S.
diplomatic outposts in the Middle East.
Trump on Monday abruptly departed this week's G7 Summit in Canada due to
the intensifying conflict, returning to Washington for urgent talks with
his national security team. He also posted an ominous social media
warning that “Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”
The moves sparked new speculation from his isolationist devotees that
the U.S. might be deepening its involvement, perhaps by providing the
Israelis with bunker-busting bombs to penetrate Iranian nuclear sites or
offering other direct U.S. military support.
Other strong Trump backers, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., are
making the case that this is Trump’s moment to deliver a decisive blow
against Iran. Graham is calling for Trump to “go all-in” in backing
Israel and destroying Iran’s nuclear program.
“If that means providing bombs, provide bombs,” he said Sunday on CBS’s
“Face the Nation.” “If that means flying with Israel, fly with Israel.”
Should the U.S. wade into a war in the Middle East, Trump would begin
unraveling his own political base, built on ending foreign
entanglements, curbing illegal immigration and reducing the trade
deficit, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon said Monday.
“It’s going to not just blow up the coalition,” Bannon said on Tucker
Carlson’s show. “It's also going to thwart what we’re doing with the
most important thing, which is the deportation” of immigrants in the
U.S. illegally.
Any option comes with political risk for Trump, who, as he returned to
Washington, expressed exasperation at Iranian leaders' failure to reach
an agreement.
“They should have done the deal. I told them, ‘Do the deal,’” he told
reporters on Air Force One. “So I don’t know. I’m not too much in the
mood to negotiate.”
On Tuesday, Trump said on social media that the U.S. knows where Iran’s
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is hiding during the conflict but
doesn’t want him killed “for now.” He also called for Iran’s
“UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.”
A look at what some of Trump's top MAGA-world backers are saying:
Tucker Carlson
On Monday, Carlson's increasingly critical rhetoric toward Trump reached
a new level, as the longtime supporter who headlined large rallies with
Trump during the 2024 campaign suggested Trump's posture was breaking
his pledge to keep the United States out of new foreign entanglements.
[to top of second column]
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President Donald Trump walks away following the family photograph
during the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Monday, June 16, 2025.
(Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
“You’re not going to convince me that the Iranian people are my
enemy,” Carlson said as a guest on “War Room,” the podcast led by
2016 Trump campaign adviser Steve Bannon. “It’s Orwell, man. I’m a
free man. You’re not telling me who I have to hate.”
Carlson posted to X that same day his call to challenge other Trump
media supporters like Sean Hannity and Mark Levin to push the
president to uphold his campaign pledge.
Trump has bristled at the criticism, posting on social media,
“Somebody please explain to kooky Tucker Carlson that,’ IRAN CAN NOT
HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!’”
___
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
The Georgia Republican — the epitome of MAGA, sporting the signature
red cap for President Joe Biden's 2024 State of the Union address —
has publicly sided with Carlson, directly calling out Trump for
deriding “one of my favorite people.”
Saying the former Fox News commentator “unapologetically believes
the same things I do,” Greene wrote on X Monday night that those
beliefs include that “foreign wars/intervention/regime change put
America last, kill innocent people, are making us broke, and will
ultimately lead to our destruction.”
“That’s not kooky,” Greene added, using the same word Trump used to
describe Carlson. “That’s what millions of Americans voted for. It’s
what we believe is America First.”
___
Charlie Kirk
The founder of Turning Point USA has been generally supportive of
Trump, saying Monday in an interview with Fox News that “this is the
moment that President Trump was elected for,” but he's also warned
of a potential MAGA divide over Iran since last week.
Days later, Kirk said, “Trump voters, especially young people,
supported President Trump because he was the first president in my
lifetime to not start a new war.” He also wrote that “there is
historically little support for America to be actively engaged in
yet another offensive war in the Middle East. We must work for and
pray for peace.”
That same day, Kirk noted, “The last thing America needs right now
is a new war. Our number one desire must be peace, as quickly as
possible.”
___
There have been other divides
The evolving situation surrounding Iran isn’t the first time Trump
and some of his base have diverged, and it's possible the current
tension is more of a disagreement than a breakup between the
president and the MAGA faithful.
In April, some thought leaders and influential podcasters who backed
Trump’s campaign voiced doubts as global markets buckled under the
pressure of impending tariffs.
Trump has been critical of U.S. support for Ukraine, in December
calling Biden’s decision to allow Ukrainian forces to use American
long-range weapons to strike deeper into Russian territory “a very
stupid thing to do.” But Trump stopped short of cutting off all
funding, something for which other allies, including Carlson, have
advocated.
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